The Massive Continuity of Ducks

johannestevans:

ALT
Prompt here.
It’s a nice evening. Balmy, just hot enough that the air has a stickiness to it, and Lucius feels like a cat lazing in sunlight as he relaxes back between Pete’s legs, feels his knees curving in against his shoulders.
He feels good.
Loose, completely relaxed, the world coming to him in a pleasant haze, and he’s comfortable having Pete’s legs against him, is absently stroking one of his calves as Stede keeps reading.
Izzy isn’t with them, is standing up on the focsle with his elbows rested on the rail, and he’s not actually paying attention to Stede or the rest of them, it doesn’t seem to Lucius, actually has his gaze focused on the reflection of the moon in the water. Lucius is fascinated by that faraway look he gets on his face sometimes, the way his jaw slackens and his eyes just look kinda sad instead of angry.
He normally gets that look after a quiet word with Edward, which isn’t any of Lucius’ business, which makes it delicious.
“Hey,” says Roach, standing at the base of the focsle, and he taps Izzy’s good foot, holding up the joint.
“No,” says Izzy. “Thanks.”
The sarcasm drips off the words, all the sibilance on the s.
Roach chuckles, and then takes a drag from the joint in his hand, long and slow. Lucius watches as Roach climbs on the barrel, puts his hands flat on the focsle’s deck, and hauls himself up with all the strength in those arms of his, no matter that he had to sew one of them back on - he does it with his mouth full of smoke and the joint primed between two fingers, and Izzy steps back slightly, puts his hands across his chest and arches an eyebrow at him, refuses to look even remotely impressed as Roach settles his feet on the edge of the deck, his elbows resting on the rail, and gestures with one hand to his face.
Izzy laughs this time, and it’s quiet, a huff-out of amused sound that Lucius can’t hear, but he can see the movement of his face, the slight shake of his head.
He does hear Izzy say, “I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”
Roach leans forward on the rail, smiling close-lipped, and Izzy rolls his eyes, but he leans in closer, and although he jolts when Roach puts his hand on Izzy’s waist to pull him closer, he does go. Lucius’ mouth is dry watching the way Roach hollows out his cheeks, blowing out smoke, watching Izzy’s lips move as he inhales.
“Reliving your youth,” says Roach.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Fucking liar.”
Roach laughs. “Forty.”
Lucius expects him to climb around the railing, but he doesn’t, stays there hanging from the fencing with his feet on the deck edge, hanging right off, but as Stede keeps reading (and Lucius can tell he’s noticed, because he keeps glancing up at the focsle now and then, and has nudged Ed twice), Roach and Izzy share a second toke, a third.
Lucius doesn’t think he’s ever seen Izzy look like this, limbs loose and relaxed, lips curved into an almost-easy smile instead of a strained frown, and what he’s definitely never seen is the way that Izzy stands closer to Roach, the rail between them, or the way that Izzy puts his hand on Roach’s chest and splays his fingers, catches his mouth under his on the fourth toke.
“To which the captain r-replied, Good… Good Lord,” mumbles Stede, interrupting himself, and they all turn to look at what Lucius is looking at, Izzy with one hand on Roach’s chest and the other curved around the back of his neck, Roach with his hand fisted in Izzy’s leather vest. They’re kissing slow and easy, the movements all but langurous, and both of them are blowing out smoke through their noses at the same time, like two dragons necking.
When they pull apart, Roach is giggling, Izzy’s laughing, is stroking one finger down the back of Roach’s neck, glancing down at his lips before he looks up at his eyes again.
“You see it?” asks Lucius, tipping his head back against Pete’s knee and looking up toward his face, and Pete looks away from Roach and Izzy to Lucius.
“Okay,” he admits. “That’s pretty hot.”
“Are we the fucking entertainment now?” calls Izzy. “Or what, you see one good kiss and you forget how to read?”
“That’s, that’s really not,” splutters Stede, “I do– Doesn’t that hurt? Blowing it out of your nose like that?”
Roach starts laughing so hard he nearly falls, and Izzy’s hand whips out pretty fast despite the high, grabbing him by the shirt and tugging him back against the railing to encourage him to climb through.
“Ed,” Izzy says.
Ed’s already moving, and Stede looks fucking destroyed with love as Ed blows into his mouth, then puts his hand over Stede’s mouth to keep him from exhaling.
“Don’t cough, mate,” says Ed. “Just exhale through your nose, do it. Yeah, yeah, that’s it.”
He doesn’t exactly do it as gracefully as Izzy and Roach, gives one cough as he goes, but he manages it. Lucius looks back to see if Izzy and Roach are impressed, but they’re not even paying attention - Izzy has Roach back against the railing and they’re dead to the world as they kiss.
“At least we know where his off-switch is now,” murmurs Jim, and Stede abortively goes back to his reading.